The weekend’s Summit League matchup at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Ill., will pit a South Dakota State (7-10, 0-3) team that is trying to find its way against a Western Illinois (3-12, 1-2) squad that has struggled mightily on the mound and at the plate.

The Jackrabbits have dropped four straight and are 0-3 in the Summit League –you can’t hide from that. But what the record doesn’t tell you is that of SDSU’s ten losses, six are by two runs or fewer, including three of the last four.

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (11-6, 2-1 Summit) got off to a solid start in conference play, as the Mastodons took two of three from Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. IPFW mustered just five hits in the opener, a 4-2 Leathernecks victory, but the Mastodons bounced back to take the next two games despite hitting a .204 for the weekend.

And while IPFW was stifled on offense, the pitching staff showed marked improvement as they shaved their staff ERA from 5.58 to 4.48. Western Illinois hit just .257 against an IPFW that entered the weekend ranked second-to-last nationally in walks per nine innings (7.58) and gave up more than nine hits per game. Continue reading Summit League Weekend Feature: IPFW visits Oral Roberts→

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